What is a Project?

Unlike repetitive business processes or ongoing operations, projects are defined as work that happens one
time only. Each project produces some unique outcome and has both a clear beginning and an end.

What is Project Management?

Managing projects is not the same as managing ongoing operations. This work that is unique and temporary
requires different management disciplines.

Project management is both an art and a science. The science of project management goal setting, project
planning, execution and monitoring tools provide the foundation for success in any project. Learning this
basic science is requisite to practicing the art of project management that encompasses political, leadership,
and interpersonal skills, making and inspiring creative decisions, and much more.

Project management is the planning, organization, monitoring and control of all aspects of a project and the
motivation of all involved to achieve the project objectives safely and within agreed time, cost and
performance criteria. It is a set of tools, techniques, and knowledge that, when applied, helps you produce
better results for your project. It contains the total amount of leadership skills, leadership tasks, leadership
organization, leadership techniques and leadership measures for the performance of the project.
 Two Approaches to Project Management

1. Project Administration

focuses on finding solutions within given constraints (output, time, and budget); characterized by an early
design freeze that creates a stable target for the project; effective when duration of the project or the time
required to innovate is shorter than the rate of change in the business environment.

2. Business Synergies

focuses on adding value to the organization and maximizing return on investment; does not lock down design
earlier than absolutely necessary not to miss a newly emerging opportunity; effective for managing
innovation projects in the rapidly changing business environment.
BALANCING APPROACH :-

A project that is undertaken to improve upon the manufacturing capacity of one or more production units
that will result in improvement in the overall production capacity of the project as a whole is called a
Balancing project.

ABC ltd is a company who has started its operation this year but their production are not according to the
capacity of machines due to shortage of raw material , or electricity problem so company will try to balance
their production so that their production operates at full capacity of their machine

MODERNIZATION APPROACH

Technological innovation is a continuous process. When a new technology is evolved and becomes
commercially operative, the existing technology becomes obsolete. Any project is set up with the latest
available technology. However with, the passage of time, in view of continuing technological upgradation, the
projects, become obsolete in technology. Thus, whenever either the plant and machinery becomes obsolete or
whenever the production process becomes obsolete there is a need for modernization.

ABC is a company they have decided to do a new process in their company by introducing new operation so
that they can bring new economies of scale in their company which lead to increase the productivity of their
workers. It will increase their knowledge. It gives benefits to them.

REPLACEMENT APPROACH

Replacement project involves replacing some of the old machinery with new machinery of the same capacity.
Due to ageing and wear and tear of machinery, the maintenance-cost starts mounting up and a stage will come
when it will be no more advantageous to keep the worn-out machinery in the production line in view of
abnormally high maintenance costs, poor quality of output, reduction in capacity of output, break-down etc.

ABC is a company they will change their old machines and bring new machines in their company so that
workers can do well in the org. it will help workers to works efficiently and effectively.

EXPANSION APPROACH
 An expansion project is one that is aimed at increasing the plant capacity for the current product range.

Assume that a company is engaged in the production of wrist watches and that the plant capacity is 50,000
Nos. of wrist watches per annum. If the company, anticipating further growth in the market demand for wrist
watches, plans and implements a project for enhancing the plant capacity from the present level of 50,000
Nos. of wrist watches per to 75,000Nos. per annum, the company is said to embark upon an expansion
project.

DIVERSIFICATION APPROACH

When a manufacturer wants to offer more than one product, it is described as productdiversification and the
project meant for this purpose is the diversification project.

Diversification is of two types :

1. Related Diversification

2. Unrelated Diversification

PROJECT IDENTIFICATION

To identify the projects/solutions for a particular problem based on various factors is termed as project
identification. There could be number of possible solutions for a single problem, so having idea of that
solution or identifying those various solutions is project identification

A project may be seen as an investment activity where financial resources are expended to create capital
assets that produce benefits over extended period of time.

Project identification is the initial phase of the project development cycle.

It begins with the conceiving of ideas or intentions to set up a project.

These ideas are then transformed into a project.

Clear project identification allows you to answers questions like:

a) How do the projects come about?

b) Where do projects come from?

c) Why are projects where they are?

Objectives

1. To increase profit
2. To increase threat to losses
3. To become more competitive
4. To provide help after disaster
5. To train people in new area
6. To reduce pollution

Strength

1. what do you mean by strength of an organization or

2. strength of an individual? Typically in the strengths you could cover things like
3. what is your experience and what is your expertise in a particular area? What is the financial position?
4. How much money you have?
5. How much money can you raise and therefore as a
6. company depending on your financial position you can contemplate what sort of projects you can go into.
7. Whats the amount of money that you can invest? What is your capital raising capability?
8. What are your industrial contacts
 Weakness
1. The unfamiliarity with new technologies could be a
2. major weakness Inability to raise huge investments is also a weakness
3. Lack of experience is in fact a very major weakness
4. Lack of trained personnel in a particular area is again
5. a weakness. Inability to forecast market trends again could be a
6. very big weakness
7. New unfamiliar technologies Inability to raise huge investments
8. Lack of experience
9. Lack of trained personals
10. Inability to forecast market trends

Opportunities

1. The opportunities could be the emergence of new

2. technologies. There are new products coming up.
3. Because of better technology new processes may be
4. developed which have better features Special financing schemes could be opportunities.
5. Government and other incentives
6. Emerging new technologies New products with new market
7. New processes with better features
8. Special financing schemes
9. Government and other incentives

Threats

1. Competitors could be one of the big threats to

2. business The poor state of the economy could be a threat
3. because if the buying power of the people is low they cannot buy products
4. Outdated technologies are threat.
5. Unprofessional management skills could also be a very
6. big threat in todays competitive world.

Where do ideas come from??

1. You could have the marketing and sales people coming

2. up with an idea for a new product Top management is generally responsible for giving
3. ideas for new products and also for new projects The production department will be sometimes giving
4. you ideas about new products Marketing and sales department
5. Research and development
6. Top management
7. Production department
 8. Consumers

Brainstorming

1. all the top management or the people concerned get

2. together let us say in a group and then they brainstorm and the information that is provided is the objectives
that you want to achieve and the SWOT analysis. A brainstorming is a good means to achieve this kind
3. of innovation and to generate new project ideas.
4. A good means to generate new product ideas
5. Focus on uninhibited participation of group
6. Listing of ideas without suppressing creativity at the
7. source List of ideas subjected to screening and evaluation subsequently
Screening of the new ideas
1. one could think in terms of criteria like what is the cost of the idea?
2. What is the risk involved?
3. What is the return if I implement this idea and is it a hazardous thing?
4. Does it mean a threat to life or property or groups of people
5. Rate of return
6. Risk
7. Profit
8. Payback
9. Similarity to existing business
10. Expected life
11. Flexibility
12. Environment
13. Competition

Approaches to project identification

There are two major approaches to project identification

(a) Top-down approach

(b) Bottom-up approach

The top-down approach remains extremely popular in contemporary project management. The phrase top-down
means that all the directions come from the top. Project objectives are established by the top management. Top
managers provide guidelines, information, plans and fund processes. All of the project managers expectations are
clearly communicated to each project participant. Following this approach, ambiguity opens the door for potential
failure, and the managers should be as specific as possible when communicating their expectations. Process formality is
very important for this approach.

The bottom-up approach implies proactive team input in the project executing process. Team members are invited to
participate in every step of the management process. The decision on a course of action is taken by the whole team.
Bottom-up style allows managers to communicate goals and value, e.g. through milestone planning. Then team
members are encouraged to develop personal to-do lists with the steps necessary to reach the milestones on their own.
The choice of methods and ways to perform their tasks is up to the team. The advantage of this approach is that it
empowers team members to think more creatively. They feel involved into the project development and know that their
initiatives are appreciated. The team members motivation to work and make the project a success is doubled. Individual
members of the team get an opportunity to come up with project solutions that are focused more on practical
requirements than on abstract notions. The planning process is facilitated by a number of people, which makes it flow
significantly faster. The to-do lists of all the team members are collected into the detailed general project
plan. Schedules, budgets, and results are transparent. Issues are made clear by the project manager to avoid as many
surprises as possible. Bottom-up project management can also be viewed as a way of coping with the increasing gap
between the information necessary to manage knowledge workers and the ability of managers to acquire and apply this
information.